The first annual Austin Gaming Expo (AGE) was this past Saturday, July 26, 2003, and we here at Snackbar Games made our first public appearance. Since this was the first AGE, nobody was really sure what kind of turn out to expect. In the end, I believe we had over 2,000 people in attendance over the 10 hours of the show. All in all I think it was a huge success for everyone involved and especially for one lucky winner of the Snackbar Games Xbox Raffle.

My Saturday started long before anyone else’s. You see, we were still wrapping things up for the Expo the Friday night before. I made the wonderful mistake of putting the base of the sign off until the last minute and so I was relegated to finishing it on Friday, at midnight. Things went from bad to worse when I broke it and had to improvise. Needless to say I got to bed about 4:30am and got up about 6am to head up to Austin. So it felt as though my Saturday started about 7am on Friday when I got up for work that day. Needless to say it was a long but excellent day.

So after arriving in Austin, we setup the booth and proceeded to wait for the masses. Dots and I just kinda hung out at the table while everyone took a look around before the doors opened. Apparently right before 10am, the lines in the lobby stretched all the way outside. I would say that is a pretty impressive feat for a first year show. At any rate, the doors opened and the flood of people came in. Thus began the beginning of the end.

I don’t think that any of us had anticipated the amount of work it was to sit at a table for 10 hours and tell people about the site. We even made up a sweet looking sign for the table, but in the end we all ended up just shy of hoarse and tired of talking. Of course, there was much confusion about who we were and what we really did. We had several people think we were a development group and thus we were asked what games we were working on. We kindly let them know what the SB was all about. We all took turns walking around, manning the booth, and passing out things to people still waiting in line to get in. We all had our interesting conversations and got to meet some ultra cool people. I apologize to anyone that I forget, I was not all there at the expo and thus, I may have forgotten your name. A few of the people we met at the expo:

• James Lewis of BlackChopper.com
• Bill Harris of GoneGold.com
• Scott of NumbThumb.com

I know I already mentioned Black Chopper in a news post this week but they are nearing completion on their Classic Console Adapter (CCA). The CCA will convert your classic console controllers into USB for use on your computer with an emulator. I don’t think I need to reiterate our stance on piracy and Black Chopper is very clear in their faq about how this relates to the legality of emulation and copyrights. This is definately a cool product and I eagerly await its completion.

There was quite a bit to see at the AGE in terms of old school hardware and one of the highlights was the AGE Museum. The AGE museum had on display every console from the Magnavox Odyssey thru the current generation consoles. I tried my best to get clear pictures of all the consoles on display so be sure to check out those pics. Serious props to the guys who managed to round up all those consoles

Another show highlight was our very own Wraith making it to the fi
nals of the Lan’s Edge Halo FFA Tourney. Wraith didn’t win but he did a superb job of representing the SB.

I know many of you are reading this just to see the AGE pictures and without further adu, here are links to galleries on our site, AtariAge.com, BlackChopper.com, and AGE:

• Snackbar-Games
• Atari Age
• Black Chopper
• Austin Gaming Expo

I can guarantee you that there is probably a lot more that I would have addressed had I gotten a full night’s sleep and I apologize for that. Next year I will make sure I am fully rested so I can do a better job of documenting the expo. The official AGE site should have a more comprehensive wrapup online in the next few days or so.

I also want to say thanks to everyone for stopping by the booth and especially to those of you who made the raffle such a succes. Congratulations to Asher Friedman for winning the raffle, and entering more times than anyone else with a whopping 16 tickets. For more info on the Austin Gaming Expo head on over to AustinGamingExpo.com. See you guys at AGE 2004!

P.S. I remember talking to several people that were supposed to email me for reasons varying from hosting a game in our downloads section to helping spread the word about your tournament. So mix in dropping me an email people.

Snowcone Foreword: I know we got Slashdotted this morning and I know there was a whirlwind of discussion about the article and I felt that some clarification was needed. This article, while it contains much truth, is intended as a satire. Take what you will from it and enjoy it.

I grew up playing video games, as many of you already know. To me, the “chick gamer,” it is perfectly normal and acceptable for a woman to play video games, but to many out there, it isn’t. After attending the Austin Gaming Expo and seeing that my sex was outnumbered I began to wonder why. Gaming is reserved for those with the different chromosomes. Which made me think, in a world dominated by the male sex, why do women choose to put themselves in the position of the minority?

I would like to consider myself a half-way decent gamer. I can play a game all the way through with no help from a cheat book or codes. I can hold my own in a Halo tournament. I know that I am not as good as a lot of people I know, but still, overall I do all right. My little sister is the same way. And, oh wait, so is my other sister. We have embarrassed boyfriends by kicking their butt in a James Bond multi-player game; we have beaten games before them that they have had longer. We have impressed people with our Halo abilities, especially my 12 year old sister. To us, it is the norm. We can play video games with the best of them. But why are our skills impressive or is it embarrassing to be beaten by a girl?

Society tells us that gaming is a hobby reserved for boys. Like so many other things that have stood in the way of gender rules, gaming is one of those things that I think sits in the grey area. A Barbie is for a little girl to play with and a Hot Wheel car is for a little boy. That is a gender rule that is standard in our society, one that most people are comfortable with and understand. (This is not to say that there are not boys who play with Barbie and girls who own Hot Wheels; for there are always exceptions to these gender rules.) But what does society tell us about playing video games? They are for boys and girls until the girls hit puberty and are too concerned with boys and make up to play video games anymore. At this point it isn’t a normal social activity for the female. There are a lot of activities that are shared by both sexes when we are children that become predominantly for one sex as we grow older. I know that a lot of this is changing as gaming becomes recognized as more of a healthy activity to engage in, but I have come up with five reasons why all girls should play in the minority as they grow into young women and eventually adults.

1. Your social life and Self-Esteem. I talked to the mom of the boy who won the Xbox raffle we had at the AGE and she talked about how good it was when they all got together and system linked their Xboxes for a little crazy massive multiplayer slayer. (So she didn’t word it quite like that, but that is what she meant.) Girls should be able to do the same thing. It would keep them from stressing about which boy dumped them or how they got a D in Chemistry. If there was a positive activity that was practiced when they were together, they would think positively about themselves. Not everyone wins all of the time, but when you do win; you can’t help but be proud of yourself. And playing video games helps you to learn how to work as a team. Not only tha
   t, but your gaming gals would form a close bond that would carry you through the years.

2. Dating. One thing that is a common complaint about dating is that there was nothing to talk about. So he plays soccer and you are on dance team. You don’t know what an offside is and he couldn’t care less about your new kick routine. The date is a dud. He tells all of his friends that you are boring and you tell yours that he has the personality of a wet mop. Next week, despite your warnings, one of the other girls on the dance team goes out with him. They hit it off. You are baffled. She HATES soccer and she has the same interests as you. You ask her what happened. She tells you that they date was going horribly until she mentioned how excited she was for Halo 2 to come out. They are going out next Friday to pre-order it at their local EB. Most guys play video games, most girls don’t. If you play video games and he plays video games then you have something to talk about. Not to mention something to do together that you both enjoy.
3. Your Grades. There has been a study that shows that playing video games actually helps you out in the mental department, so why not just play and make better grades. I am in no way saying that by playing video games will make you smarter. What I am saying is that studies have shown that it helps with cognitive recognition or remembering things. So, if playing video games helps me to remember the dates of the battles in the civil war, sign me up for a Halo tournament.
4. Marriage. Dating will eventually lead to marriage. If you avoided the issue that your man loved to play video games with the guys all of the time, now that you are married you will have to deal with that issue now. If you are a non gamer you spend every Friday night sitting at home watching Lifetime movies fuming that it is almost midnight and he isn’t home yet. Not to mention that his friends resent you for making him come home at midnight. So when you all go out to dinner the next time you could cut the tension with a knife. Now, if you play video games too, you both go over to the guys’ place and play to all hours of the morning and you have a blast. Not only does it save you the trouble of being angry and fighting about your husband’s friends and activities all of the time, his friends love you and are intensely jealous that they can’t find a girl more like you.
5. The Workplace. It is a well known fact that working in an office is still sometimes a hard task for a woman to conquer. This one applies more for the women of the future then the women now (but it could still be true today). If all boys grew up playing video games and many of them still do in their adult life, wouldn’t it benefit the woman to do the same? There is an X-box in the break room. Your boss goes in there when he gets really stressed about something to play a good game of Halo. You go in there and ask if you can join him. You play a round of Halo with his and voila! Instant respect. (Unless of course you kick his butt and he feels intimidated by you… which is where your own judgment comes in.) He then starts relying on you to do more around the office and before you know it you have a promotion and a fat raise. This of course is a hypothetical situation, so don’t get all pissy if it doesn’t work.

I am not going to say that these are backed by a 100% guarantee to work. All people are different and not all girls (or guys for that matter) will ever be interested in video games. I am in that minority and I love it. I wouldn’t be married if it weren’t for the fact that I played video games. I spent the first summer we were dating staying up all night playing Halo with my boyfriend and his friends. I don’t think he would have put up with me, nor I with him, if I hadn’t been a “chick gamer.” Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying if you play video games you
will find a mate, but what I am trying to say is that it might just be worth it for more of girls out there to join the minority. You might find that you genuinely enjoy yourself.

Due to overwhelming demand the SB crew has decided to bring back
the Retro Review feature. Since it takes a lot of time to play a
game enough to give it a decent review and most of our time is spent
playing new releases to get reviews of those out, the Retro Reviews
won’t come every week. We are shooting for once a month. If
you’ve been a reader of the site for awhile you probably remember
that Pickle and myself spend more time arguing and going off on
tangents than reviewing the actual game. Usually they come out pretty
funny, and they are fun to write.

Today we’re going to be dissecting Balloon Fight
for the NES. Back in our younger years the SB crew got countless
hours of entertainment trying to pop each others balloons. Released
in 1985, Balloon Fight is an NES classic.

While many people focus on what video games came out and when,
I like to focus on what was going on at that particular time period.
What inspired Balloon Fight? What was going on in the mind of the
developers that encouraged a game where little guys try to kill
demons that float on balloons? Could it be Communism? The year 1985
did see the election of Gorbachev in the USSR. I do think that somehow
the developers were trying to give us hints as to what kind of politics
we should expect to see. Was capitalism the balloons, communism
the little demons that float to try to oppress the rights of citizens?
Was the lighting in the sky the A

CounterStrike (CS) is widely known as one of the
best multiplayer FPS games ever. Unfortunately it is also well known
for being a breeding ground for cheaters, spawn campers, team killers,
and other such fuckheads. Whether or not you’re a fan of CS you
have to admit that it reigned supreme over all FPS’ for a very long
time. Not to mention that it’s damn fun. If any of you have been
a fan of the site for a while you probably have heard me mention
that I almost lost a job due to a CS addiction. It’s a little hard
to explain exactly why every single person at my office played CS
non-stop all night every night, but there were six of us that didn’t
come into work until 5 pm and didn’t leave till 5 am. As if working
that schedule wasn’t boring enough, there was never anything to
do at this particular job. On top of all that no one who was in
charge ever came into the office. So what is the best way for six
computer geeks to entertain themselves who have nothing to do for
twelve hours at a time every day? CS, of course.

Everyone who has ever participated in a LAN party probably has
some pretty funny stories. What was different about this is that
every single night for more than three months the six of us were
eating, breathing, and sleeping CS. Being around each other for
the massive quantity of time that we were we were bound to get on
each other’s nerves. I could probably sit for hours and tell stories
that would make you laugh your ass off, but I will save those all
for another time, possibly another article. There is one particular
incident that will make me laugh until the day I die.

CS was such a way of life for us that after awhile we only referred
to each other by our player handles. Once you reach that stage in
your life you know that you’ve hit a new low. Before SB came about
I used to play under the handle “Dick Armey.” No, ARMEY
isn’t spelled wrong, he’s a senator, watch fucking CNN every once
in awhile. I shared an office with “Kyzer Soze” and “Weasel”
next door; the other three were down the hall.

For some reason Weasel wasn’t very good and he always played in
his office with the door closed. I think he was just annoyed with
the rest of us screaming at each other down the hall all the time.
One time a security guard was checking our office at 3 am and I
was screaming to Fenster down the hall at the top of my lungs, “Plant
the bomb! Plant the mother fucking bomb!”

We all laughed but I don’t think the security guard thought it
was very funny.

One night we were playing as the Counter Terrorists on the Canyon
Siege level. On this particular level all the Counter Terrorists
start out having to run across a canyon on a narrow bridge. If you’re
a CS veteran than you know that the start of every round is like
a rat race to get position before the other team does. Everyone
is off like a bolt of lightning trying to get to their spots.

For some reason Weasel kept spawning closet to the bridge so he
was always the first person to g
o across it. Normally Weasel sucking
didn’t bother anyone, but the bridge over the canyon is only wide
enough for one person to get across at a time. In addition to not
being all that great, Weasel insisted upon running with his gun
instead of his knife. Every CS player knows that you don’t run near
as fast with your gun out. So picture this; the only player of the
team who doesn’t run with his knife out hits the bridge first and
gets the other nine members of his team stuck behind him. The other
team was getting to their points way before we were and we were
getting massacred. Getting beat at any game is never acceptable
to me.

After four rounds of staring at the back of Weasel’s head and getting
really pissed off I yelled to Weasel “If you don’t quit running
with your gun I’m going to shoot you myself.”

I was pretty sure he heard me because I yelled pretty loud. The
next round started and I bought an AWP, just in case. I switched
to my knife and turned to run across the bridge, only to be greeted
by the back of Weasel’s head once again. I would like to make a
disclaimer that I don’t usually condone team killing, but there
are some situations where people are just asking for it. I stopped,
zoomed in and put a nice pretty bullet through the back of Weasel’s
head. Everyone on my team cheered and I could hear Weasel scream
“What the Fuck?” through his office door.

I felt good about myself, perhaps I had taught him a valuable lesson.
Except the next round started and I ran into him again! Apparently
he didn’t learn the first time, so I started to line up another
headshot. By the time I got my scope zoomed in on him I saw his
head explode before I even pulled the trigger. I turned around and
heard Kyzer cracking up. Talk about a “second shooter”
scenario.

We heard Weasel spike his mouse and slam his door open. A second
later he came bursting into our office and lunges at Kyzer. The
lunge turned into a punch landed squarely on the back of Kyzer’s
head. Several swings and vulgarities were exchanged before the conflict
came to a conclusion. I would have tried to break them up but I
found the whole situation way too humorous. I’ll admit that it was
the only time I have ever seen a fist fight during an online game
involving two players on the same team. I would say that’s a rarity
during any game.

The moral of the story my friends, is don’t let your LAN party
turn to violence. If you suck at a game, make sure and get the hell
out of your team’s way. It makes things easier for everyone involved.